Waimea Bay calls the big surf day

"The Bay calls the Day". The motto for The Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau is clear enough. That is to say, when the waves reach the required 20-foot waves, the green light is on.

The swell forecast is looking very good for Thursday, 20th January, so everyone is getting prepared for an eventual call. The peak of the swell is anticipated to be early morning Thursday, so organizers need to be in place for an immediate start if the waves do measure up.

George Downing, contest director of big wave event is cautious. "Let's not forget, we are not dealing with a concrete stadium sporting event," said Downing. "Surfers and great surfing events are 100 per cent dependent upon many nuances of nature that not even the latest, greatest technology can perfectly predict. What we are saying is that the potential for 20-foot surf does exist. We might go, we might not, but we will always be ready for when the bay calls the day".

The National Weather Service expects the peak of the swell to be some time between 4am and 8am, Thursday. The most current estimates expect swell heights of around 18-22 feet for Oahu's North Shore (not specific to Waimea Bay).

The incoming swells associated with this episode should be fully registering on buoy 51101 between 4pm and 8pm tomorrow, which will supply the Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau team with their most reliable batch of data ahead of Thursday morning.